One break-in and you'll be cursing yourself for not paying it.

 

What can I say, I'm a penny pincher.

It's not a matter of affordability. It's a matter of if it makes sense. And it's not so much the $11/month, but the initial investment of whatever equipment I need to purchase too if I'm unable to re-use what I have. If I have to buy new equipment, I want to do it right

 

^ I am the same way. It's funny b/c my wife will break my chops b/c I'll go to the track and spend $200 on tires w/o even thinking, but when it comes to spending around the same for a home alarm (which gives us a homeowner's discount and protects us), I pinch pennies.

Then a home on the back side of the neighborhood got broken into. Not very common here and even though it was on the opposite side of the neighborhood near an entrance, it got me thinking. So we just did it in pieces. Got the alarm from SimpliSafe (penny pinching still in affect as I bought a refurb from them) last year, then bought the Arlo cameras this year. So those combined with some cameras we already had made for a pretty good setup.

When I heard that the burglars were in the house for under 10 min and got ~$20k worth of stuff I figured a few hundred dollars was a drop in the bucket...

 

Yeah, that's a good point.

When I looked into an alarm at our old house, we needed to get a permit from the city and it was something like $120 /yr. This was the "fee" for having your house on record as having a monitored alarm system with contact information for various parties if the owner cannot be reached. This fee did not include any allowance for false alarms, which were also not cheap. I need to see if where we are now has anything similar. In fact, I may call the city now...

I think what I may do is research monitoring companies and see what I can get. I know I can buy a cellular adapter for my alarm system. That way we'll have something.

 

So the city I currently live in doesn't charge anything for a monitored alarm system and they don't need me to submit any information.

I came across this gem: http://www.alarmmonitoringservices.c...ge/6621460.htm

Should I do it?

 

Damn 120 a year. I have ADT out in Sacramento even though it's 45 a month my permit is 50 every 3 years.

 

I totally remembered that wrong. The permit in my old city was $22/yr. The false alarms were $100 per occurrence.

 

Alarm permit was free for me. I believe it's $100 per occurrence for false alarms, but you get like 2 or 3 free. We had one false a while ago so it seems like it was a fluke...

 

When we had our ADT installed, the installer didn't log out and went to the next house and did another install. While he was testing he was testing on our alarm and since we weren't home they called us. It happend 5 times, 2 times the cops came because I didn't answer the phone.

The last time it triggered the paramedics.

 

Where I live now I don't even need to tell the PD that I have a monitored alarm. They don't seem to care.

I think I want to do this. I found GEOARM® - DIY Security Systems & Alarm Monitoring which seems to have decent reviews. I'd just need to buy a cellular adapter and then pay them ~$15 /month.

 

Do you still use them? No contract, $200 equipment cost, and $25/mo sounds like the best deal for me. I called Frontpoint and they want $167, $45/mo, 3 year deal. I think they offered an extra motion sensor so meh.

Our Biggest Deal Ever | Alarm Systems

 

How's the video quality of the Arlo system?

 

I still am after almost 2 years. Do you see yourself needing the phone app to arm/disarm? If not, you can get away with the $20/month plan. Because that's the only thing you're paying for at $25/month. My wife and I are forgetful, so I opted for the $25/month plan just so we can arm the system when we're both at work. For $5 more I think it's worth it to have the phone app.

My buddy got a SimpliSafe with the $20/month plan because he has roommates and it didn't make sense for him to arm at work when he doesn't know exactly when his roommates will be home.

 

Well my gf has a 16 year old daughter. Does the app tell you when it's armed/unarmed? I only see options for $15 or $25 for the monthly.

 

Oh that's weird, they must have changed it. Back then there were 3 options.

But yes, the app will let you know whether it's armed/disarmed and also timestamp of arm/disarm.

 

I was able to find the 3 options plan on their site but not sure if the $20/month is still valid

 

Cool. When we are closer to move in, I'll decide which to go with.

 

It is good... HD resolution and the app is super easy to use. I just use my phone to arm it, then disarm it right before I walk in so I don't get a ton of emails that motion was detected. We actually just added a 4th camera a couple of months ago (you can have up to 5 on the free plan).

The combination of SimpliSafe and Arlo has worked very well for us... especially since we seem to get false alarm from the SimpliSafe once in a while. Having redundant systems I am able to check to see if Arlo has emailed me about motion, or if available, just log onto the app and check the feed. I figure if one falses and the other doesn't alert, I'm OK. If they both alert, time to send in 5-0

 

I just live in a better neighborhood....


And I have Simplisafe.

 

So I signed up for Comcast cable/internet for my new house and their triple play for $10 more can be alarm monitoring. It has cellular backup, key pad, 1 sensor, and 3 door sensors which works out good for my house. $99 install spread over 6 bills. Entire package has a 2 year contract.

 

So frontpoint came at me with this:

Door or Window Sensor x5 $32.99 $164.95
Motion Sensor x2 $64.99 $129.98
Glass Break Sensor x1 $74.99 $74.99
Smoke and Heat Sensor x1 $64.99 $64.99
Simon XT Control Panel x1 $238.99 $238.99
Radio x1 $0.00 $0.00
Sub-Total $673.90
Shipping FREE!
(-) Discount ($573.95)
Grand Total
$99.95

I told them my monthly with Comcast is only $10 so let's see what they say.

 

Oh sweet. Took Comcast a week to tell me they don't service my new area. Guess I'm going Simplisafe.